The British Economic Pursuit in Africa – JSS3 Nigerian History Lesson Note (Second Term)

The British economic pursuit in Africa was Britain’s drive, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to gain raw materials, markets and investment opportunities in Africa.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. State the economic reasons why Britain wanted control of African territories.
2. List the raw materials Britain took from Africa and the goods it sold there.
3. Describe British policies on land, labour, infrastructure and trade in African colonies.
4. Explain the long-term effects of these policies on African economies.

What are the key terms in this topic?

These terms are used throughout the lesson.

• Raw materials: natural products used by factories to make other goods, such as cotton, palm oil and rubber.
• Market: a place or group of people where goods are sold.
• Investment: money put into a business to earn profit.
• Colony: a territory ruled and controlled by a foreign power.
• Marketing board: a colonial body that bought farm produce from farmers and sold it abroad.
• Land alienation: taking land away from its African owners.

What was the Scramble for Africa?

The Scramble for Africa was the race by European powers to divide and control African territories in the late 19th century.

• Period: it took place mainly in the late 19th century, and British rule continued into the 20th century.
• Main driver: economic interest, though politics and rivalry between European powers also played a part.
• British territories: Britain claimed large areas, including the lands that became Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

What were the economic motives for British colonisation?

There were three main economic motives: raw materials, markets and investment opportunities.

Raw materials and natural resources

Britain’s Industrial Revolution created a huge demand for raw materials that Africa could supply.

• Agricultural products: cotton, cocoa, rubber, palm oil and groundnuts.
• Minerals: gold, diamonds, copper, tin and coal.
• Forest products: timber and other products from the forest.
• Animal products: ivory and hides.
• Use of palm oil: it was needed for industrial lubricants and soap.
• Use of cotton: it fed the textile industry in Manchester and other British centres.

Markets for British manufactured goods

British factories needed new markets, and Africa offered millions of possible buyers.

• Textiles and clothing: cloth made in British mills.
• Metal goods and tools: items such as hoes, cutlasses and pots.
• Firearms and ammunition: guns and powder.
• Household items: everyday goods for homes.
• Alcoholic drinks: such as gin, sold in many colonies.
• Controlled markets: colonies let Britain sell without competition from other European powers.

Investment opportunities

Africa gave British investors a chance to earn large profits.

• Mining: gold, diamonds, tin, copper and coal.
• Plantations: large farms for export crops.
• Railway construction: lines linking mines and farms to ports.
• Banking and finance: banks that handled money for trade.
• Trading companies: firms that bought produce and sold British goods.
• Chartered companies: the British South Africa Company, founded by Cecil Rhodes, ruled territories in southern Africa.
• Government support: many investors received protection from the British government.

What economic policies did Britain use in its African colonies?

Britain used policies on land, labour, infrastructure and trade to make its colonies serve British industry.

What was the British land policy?

Land policy gave the British control over African land.

• Crown land: land was often declared the property of the British government.
• Grants to settlers: large areas were given to European settlers and companies.
• Disruption of land tenure: traditional communal ownership was weakened.
• Native reserves: Africans were often moved to poorer land.
• Where it was worst: settler colonies such as Kenya, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa.

What were the British labour policies?

Labour policies aimed to give plantations, mines and other businesses a steady supply of workers.

• Taxation: taxes had to be paid in money, so Africans had to find paid work.
• Labour recruitment: workers were recruited, sometimes by force.
• Labour reserves: areas with few other ways to earn money, so people worked for European employers.
• Migrant labour: workers lived far from their families.
• Effects: new patterns of migration and growth of towns.

What infrastructure did the British build?

The British built infrastructure mainly to move resources and goods out of the colonies.

• Railways: lines from mining and farming areas to the ports.
• Roads: built for the same purpose.
• Ports and harbours: used to ship goods to Europe.
• Telegraph and telephone: used for communication and administration.
• Result: some modernisation, but the aim was to serve European interests first.

What were the British trade policies?

Trade policies were designed to benefit the British economy.

• Export of raw materials: colonial economies were built to produce crops and minerals for export.
• Import of British goods: manufactured goods came from Britain.
• Limited inter-African trade: trade between African regions was often discouraged.
• Marketing boards: they bought produce from farmers at set prices, which favoured British interests.
• Result: economies that depended on Britain and suffered when world prices fell.

What did Britain take from Nigeria?

Different parts of Nigeria supplied different raw materials to Britain.

• Railways in Nigeria: lines from Lagos and Port Harcourt carried produce and minerals from the interior to the ports.
• Royal Niger Company: a British trading company that traded on the River Niger before direct British rule.

What was the legacy of British economic pursuits in Africa?

The legacy is a set of long-lasting effects on African economies that continued after independence.

• Export-oriented economies: economies depended on a few primary commodities.
• Weak industry: manufacturing and industrial sectors were underdeveloped.
• Extraction-based transport: railways and roads linked mines and farms to ports, not regions to each other.
• Disrupted systems: traditional economies and land tenure were changed.
• Cash economy: money and wage labour became common.
• Uneven development: investment gathered in areas with resources to extract.
• After independence: many of these patterns remained and made balanced development harder.

Evaluation

1. Name four raw materials that Britain wanted from Africa and say why Britain needed them.
2. Why did Britain want colonies as markets for its manufactured goods?
3. Describe two ways the British forced Africans to work for European employers.
4. Why did the British build railways in their African colonies?
5. State three long-term effects of British economic policies on African economies.

Assignment

Write a short paragraph explaining how British trade policies, such as the use of marketing boards, made African colonial economies dependent on Britain.